Re: First Experiences

[MegaAbsol]

"Scared?" Laura laughed, waving a hand as though brushing off the matter. "Wary, more like." She shook her head, grin still persisting - the excitement of catching the leviathan sea monster had clearly not worn off yet. Her gaze shifted from the pokeball she now held in front of her to Shellder again. "I wish I could find a Water Stone for Shellder, though. Maybe evolution could get rid of that crack..." She trailed off, biting her lip. It was obvious she was still riddled with guilt over what had occurred oh so long ago.

She lifted her head as Alice began speaking again, eyes widening as her sentence finished. "T-Tomorrow? That's..." She bit her lip again, the redhead looking down with fluttering eyelashes. She seemed as though she had something to say, and was clearly not done saying it yet, and yet discomfort held her back. Chinchou stopped its squealings and looked up at its trainer, puzzled at the sudden change of atmosphere.

[Alice Hope]

"Sure, sure." Alice said, although she did believe Laura. She wasn't a scaredy-cat, but obviously wasn't used to handling big, battle ready monsters like that. The mention of a water stone had her thrown, though. Maybe Shellder's battle scar would persist, but either way. "Only if you're both ready for it. I bet we could find one easily in a region like this."

The young woman faltered, just as caught off guard by the change in demeanor as the squishy Chinchou, "What? What is it, do you think it's too early?" Alice asked, "Or is there something else...?"

[MegaAbsol]

Laura nodded, mumbling a 'I hope so' at the mention of a Water Stone, but quickly averted her gaze. "It's...probably nothing, but I've been having a bad feeling about that mountain," She pursed her lips, grimly shaking her head. "It's not a vision, or a premonition or anything, just...a sort of gut feeling," She seemed impatient and irritated with her own inability to explain what she felt. "In fact..." She brightened up, as though she just remembered a detail. "There's snow around the top of the mountain, isn't there? The one around the Gym?"

[Alice Hope]

"Oh..." Alice was at a loss of what to say until Laura changed the subject. She was probably dead, then. RIP in Pokemon and all that. "Yeah, there is, if what I know is the same here. You could take a cable car up there while I climb, and play around or warm up in the xabin. There's a forest, too. Why d'you ask?"

[MegaAbsol]

"Oh, there are cable cars?" Laura perked up. It seemed the girl had dreaded the difficult climb up - one could safely leave Alice to that! "Well, never mind. I- ...It is actually more than a gut feeling. It was a dream, a really hazy one. I..." Laura bit her lip again - it was odd that she'd have a dream in place of a vision. Maybe they were drawing closer to whatever was causing such unrest recently? Or perhaps it was further away, judging by the decreasing potency of Laura's premonitions. "It was hazy, everything white. There was motion at the edges of my vision, but I couldn't turn to see what it was. More than a dream...it was something like a vision. I wasn't actively participating in the scene, and I could'n't move," Laura made vague hand motions, trying her best to convey what she had seen. "The only thing I could see, was a Ninetales. It's burning eyes..." She shivered, "It melted the very ice around it. Where would a Ninetales even come from here?" She shook her head; with good reason. Ninetales are evolved pokemon, not usually found in the wild; much less at the top of a mountain. The redheaded girl frowned. "I'm not sure what it means...but I'm almost certainly sure it's not a real Ninetales," She glanced around uneasily; curious behaviour. There hung a silence in the air, until Chinchou punctuated it with a squeak.

[Alice Hope]

Alice hummed. Well, hopefully this thing wouldn't cause her to drop and injure herself. "Ninetales can live for hundreds and even thousanss of years. Maybe it wasn't always wild and now it lives in the mountains." She suggested, "But if it doesn't feel real, almost all ghosts and a handful of psychic types can cause illusions. Gastly, Mismagius, Froslass, Alakazam... Some fire types can even make mirages. It could be all sorts. And your gut feelings and dreams usually mean something."

[MegaAbsol]

Laura shook her head vigorously, now that the two females were on the same track. "That's not what I meant, Alice. I mean that it might symbolize something," She released the Chinchou from her arms and watched the little fish flop away to the edge of the shallow waves. "Ninetales are known for cursing anyone who might mess with them or their tales. I think this is a literal Pandora's box, one that might be best left alone." Her head swiveled around as she stared at Alice. "So, do you believe in curses?"

[Alice Hope]

"In this world, yeah." Alice said, obviously uncertain now that they were really getting into things. Back in her world, she wouldn't have really considered curses something to worry about, although she had always found the occult and mystical fascinating. Rituals and fortune telling were fun and cool, and her mother had always been the superstitious type to salute magpies and avoid putting new shoes on table surfaces. "I definitely believe a Ninetales could curse someone or try. But what does this mean? That I should wait one more day? Avoid the gym challenge completely? ... I don't want to do that. And besides, Jiro brought us here because I asked. If I avoid the gym and move on it'll be a bitch move after that favour, even if he had research to do here anyway. Besides, it's not as if I'm likely to wander. I'll climb the mountain, do the other stuff, race back down. No distractions. I'll be too tired for them."

[MegaAbsol]

"Don't, Nish!" The alarm in Laura's voice startled the Chinchou who was waddling back, which led to it stopping dead in its tracks, watching Laura uncertainly. A spark ran across its body in an arc of electricity, attracting the attention of the other water pokemon splashing about in the water. Shellder was the first to begin bouncing towards the two girls, a frown furrowing its face. Laura swiveled to look at her pokemon approaching them, but only alarm, suspicion and thoughts clouded her face, leaving no room for recognition...for either her pokemon, or reason.

[Alice Hope]

Alice jumped in surprise, as startled as the Pokemon by the odd sight. It had been a long time since she'd heard that nickname, and it was one that the other girl couldn't possibly know. "Guys, be careful." She warned the water Pokemin, giving her bug a few taps for good measure. "Wake up, Farren, something's happening!"

[MegaAbsol]

(Oh crap xD I was probably out of my mind or something...I wrote Nish. Ack.)

Laura's eyes darkened, and a dangerous glimmer shone behind them. "Stubborn girl..." She growled through clenched teeth, "I'm telling you not to!" She rose to her feet, and dark thunderclouds rolled across the sky, clear until a moment ago. Laura's pokemon hesitated, bunching closer in a tight circle, afraid and unsure. A shadow flickered behind Alice's back, flitting in and out of existence; the play of light and shadows cast a miasma over Laura's face, until she looked up to glare at Alice, right in the eye. Only, Laura wasn't keeping up her end of the deal.

Piercing red eyes bore into Alice's for only a minute, as the wind picked up, blotting out what was left of the sun. It kicked up sand and debris, melding together as one in the very undoing of nature. And suddenly...

As though someone had thrown water over a painting, Alice's vision would blur; all existence would swirl together, a glimpse of eternity, all that had been or could be. And then there was nothing. As her head spun, she teetered backwards, until all she knew was dark and light. Her limp form rushed down to meet the ground, but it was the soft embrace of a bed that met her. Rest, now.

(Bleh :< I think I'm getting writer's block @-@)

[Alice Hope]

Alice faltered, taking a cautious step back as Laura's voice and appearance began to warp, storm taking over. She had no idea what to do, and she could feel Farren's cone gain some tension in her arms. Only, neither of them could move, even if they wanted to fight. "Why not?! Who are you?! Are you the ghost?!" She demanded. Only, before it could answer her, the world contorted into a mess, and she collapsed, only to wake up in the Pokemon Centre bed she had been lying in the whole time.

"Holy shit." The young woman jerked, and Sakina jumped in surprise. Farren was hanging from the ceiling, and Gael was snoozing in the cool, full bath tub. Bran was now hovering above her in puzzlement. "That wasn't you, was it? That was a weird nightmare..."
"Shupp shupp." The hovering creature shook his head, and the blonde sat up. She could hear a storm raging outside, wind and rain lashing the walls. The clock in the room said 4:48am, but her Pokegear said very differently, and Alice frowned again. This all felt real, but... It was disconcerting.
"It doesn't sound good out there. It'd be a bad time for a climb..." Alice acknowledged, "But maybe an okay day to catch a new Pokemon and train? We could help Laura find some new water types."

Despite her attempt to sound light, Alice did not feel entirely like herself.

((Really? Bc you're doin gud friend.))

[MegaAbsol]

Even as Alice would watch her PokeGear and the watch, the arms of the latter actually moved back, working past and hour...two...more and more, until the arms finally came to rest at 11:58. As though having second thoughts, as the second hand struck twelve, the minute hand moved forward. 11:59. Almost midnight.

The PokeGear was a different story. Staticy and blurry, the device refused to work. It was well and truly out of commission, since neither time nor any other function seemed to be working on the expensive gadget. Outside, rain continued to batter the walls, where an endless darkness yawned its cavernous maw. Try as she might, Alice wouldn't be able to see anything but a bare branch knocking against her closed window, blowing in the wind.

The second thing Alice would notice would be the silence. Unless punctuated by the cries of her pokemon or her own words, a heavy silence lay like a shroud over the room. It was all she would know. There was no ticking of the clock, no movement of sheets or footsteps or human voices outside her door. There was simply...nothing. For all she knew, maybe nothing even existed outside the room of this crazy, twisted world.

[Alice Hope]

It made sense that there wasn't much light outside, but Alice had expected to at least see faint lights from the centre itself, or streaks of lightning cutting through the sky. The movements of the clock and the breaking of her Pokegear was almost making her sick. Given the predicament she was in overall, Alice did not take well to distortions of reality. She was questioning her life enough as it was. What if she lost her Pokemon? Lost all of this?

"The ghost... It has to be the ghost." Alice decided. She made a point of withdrawing Gael and Farren to their Heal Balls, as Sakina and Bran would be the toughest against such an opponent (although likely at the mercy of a Ninetales if it was old or strong enough). "Or something. This isn't right. Ah..." Finding it disconcerting, Alice shoved the Pokegear out of sight into her bag, and hurried to get dressed into something light but a bit more water resistant incase she went out. "Come on, guys. We need to figure this out somehow."

With that, Alice made for the door.

[MegaAbsol]

Beyond the door, there was nothing but a swirling void...! It was Alice's worst dreams come true! With that, shadowy hands reached out and...

Really, though. As Alice opened the door, she'd be relieved to find a relatively normal passageway, not unlike the one in the Centre she had stayed in. The only difference? The thick miasma fog rolling in great heaves across the corridor. It was thick enough to visually hide the pokemon lingering near Alice's feet. As she opened the door, the cold leant in with freezing fingers, running them down Alice's spine. Yes, it was much colder than it should be, and the odd silence persisted. Was she the only human inhabitant in this world?

As Alice would attempt to step out, the contact of her foot with what one hoped was carpeted floor, the world crackled with static, before settling. Hm. Unnerving. At the same time, the layout of the Centre was something Alice was unfamiliar with. It would be presumptuous to say the path was changing, but there was certainly movement in the girl's peripheral vision, which, predictably, would never be visible should Alice dart to look at it.

[Alice Hope]

Alice stepped over the threshold of the room, heart pounding in her ears as she took in the bizarre scenery - or lack thereof - around her. Sakina was terrified, and she cautiously crouched down to allow the skunk atop her shoulders, so that any panicked stink bomb went above and behind her rather into her. This definitely screamed the works of a psychic, ghost or Ninetales. The question was, which one?

"Hello! Is anyone around here?! Laura?! Ghostie?!" The trainer called out. Predictably, her blue eyes flitted to try and see what was nagging her sight, but found nothing. She decided to try and head in that direction instead, in hopes of finding some answer. "Why don't you want me to climb the mountain?! Is something wrong? I'm not planning to trouble or catch you, I just want to try and get a badge!" It was a trivial thing, but it obviously mattered to this being. Alice wanted to try and understand, to stop whatever craziness was going on here. "Please! I just want to understand!"

[MegaAbsol]

This would be an ideal situation for the childish Shuppet to scare his already-on-tenterhooks trainer, but he wouldn't be so cruel, right? Right? Well, moving on, if Alice was expecting an answer, she was rudely disappointed. Her words was swallowed up by the uncomfortable silence of the void, and each side of the corridor ended in a yawning darkness. The clock stayed frozen, showing the same sinister time. A minute to midnight. Alice would find herself walking down an impossibly long corridor, and it'd be a fair ten minutes of walking before she'd finally come across something. A door.

To backpedal, it wouldn't be fair to say 'ten minutes'. Alice would no longer have any forms of measuring the passage of time, or even confirmation if time was even passing or not. The only comfort in this situation was that her and her companions still drew breath. But besides the quiet inhalation and exhalation, there was nothing, not even...
A beat.

To draw attention back to the door, it seemed to be a regular enough door. In fact, if Alice didn't know better, it was an ordinary enough door to be the one to her room, only it was on the opposing side of the corridor. Perhaps she should try the doorknob?

[Alice Hope]

Alice was relieved that neither of her Pokemon had tried spooking her. Bran enjoyed it often enough, but for the week old baby, this was overwhelming and confusing enough for him. Hell, she didn't know if they were even her real team mates or just illusions borne of her mind or the puppeteer behind this mess. She kept walking, blue eyes straining through the shadows as she chattered away, the trio keeping an eye on things until they came to a door.

She was afraid, but went to open it anyway. It seemed to be the only possible exit so far. "Please lead us somewhere helpful..."

[MegaAbsol]

The handle was cold to the touch, almost shockingly so, but try as she might, Alice couldn't get the door open. She had no way of telling, but a more experienced lock picker might sense that the door seemed to be frozen stuff from inside. In fact, there was a bristle of ice sticking out from the keyhole. Was that always there?

Sakina seemed to have caught sight of something interesting, so much so that it elicited her curiosity enough to jump off Alice's shoulder and squeak at something about a few feet away. A...door. On the same side of the corridor, along the way they had come. There was no way Alice or her pokemon could have missed that. What's going on?

[Alice Hope]

"Damnit!" Alice seethed, yanking hard at the cold handle, her whole body shivering from the low temperature of the empty hall. This was a nightmare or nasty illusion, probably both, and she was getting more and more worked up being stuck in it. "This isn't fair! Let us out! -- Sakina?" She turned around to peer down at the dual-type, eyes soon lifting to spot the door that awaited them. There was ice in the other key hole now, and she gave up on it, moving to the next door instead. "It's playing with us. There has to be something we can do..." If this was a game, Alice would've looked up a guide by now. It was time for door number two.

[MegaAbsol]

Bafflingly enough, the door did open...into her room. Or a very capable replica of it. The beds were the same, unkempt and ruffled. The curtains were drawn, and the window looked like it had been handled roughly, in a vain attempt to open it. The only change? There was a patch of mist on the window, fading even as Alice watched. It wasn't mist; it was the precipitation that occured when hot air met cold surfaces, as though someone had breathed on the cold window. But...that's impossible. Alice had left the room a while ago, and she certainly hadn't breathed on the window!

[Alice Hope]

Alice's elation at opening the door faded fast. "We're back where we started!" She announced with frustration, and Sakina's quivering body dipped in disappointment, clearly as afraid and on edge as her trainer. "It's not your fault. It's okay. We wouldn't have known if we didn't check. And besides..." She moved off from the door frame to look at the window. It felt a little warmer than the rest of the room. "We're not alone... We know you're here!"

So what did this mean? A Litwick, fiery Rotom? Another ghost of warmer capabilities or that elusive Ninetales? "Let us out! We've had enough! This isn't going to fix whatever it is that's wrong!"

[MegaAbsol]

As Alice stepped away from the door, it swung violently, slamming shut, probably scaring both trainer and pokemon alike. Looks like this was where she was to be shamefully quarantined until business was underway. There was a few moments of silence after Alice's demanding questions; until she got the answer to them.

Words formed in the air, evidently out of wispy smoke. And chilling words too. They disappeared as suddenly as they had come. A chill set into the room, such that the corners of the glass began frosting, reflecting the words hovering in mid-air.

We are without Pity.
We are without Regret.
We are without number.
We will never stop coming.

We are watching you.

[Alice Hope]

Alice jumped with a shriek, and predictably, a burst of toxin flew against the wall from where Sakina had been given a good shock. Even Bran looked startled. "Are you alright?" She asked of the two, and they nodded, the fluffier of the pair coming to brush against her leg and stick close. The three watched as they were given their silent, intimidating answer. That was honestly enough to scare many from a climb.

"But who are 'you'?" She had to ask, her voice quieter this time. If they were watching, they could probably hear. "If the mountain is normally used for gym challenges, then why can't we climb it? Did something happen? ... Or are you /expecting/ something to happen?" Alice added. If their friend could see the future, any number of Pokemon could. "I promise you can trust me. But scaring me won't fix whatever's going on." Or so she thought, anyway.

[MegaAbsol]

Once again, silence. Just when frustration would begin setting in, yet another jumpscare. The door slammed open; only, this time, not by some sort of unseen force. The words wafted away into oblivion; deception, smoke and mirrors. Perhaps what stood at the door was more interesting. Or more specifically, who. It was Laura.

The girl stood huffing and puffing at the doorway, looking jaded and furious at the same time. "Come on, Alice! We gotta go!" She strode closer, with an unusual assertiveness, and reached for Alice's arm. Should she succeed in grabbing hold of the girl's wrist, her hold would be powerful and firm. And cold. Cold as death.

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